Koramangala netizen goes online for home search, retail and more

BANGALORE: The information space has expanded for Koramangala and its periphery as numerous websites are coming up to provide not just information specific to Koramangala, but more. From basic information to more specific searches, like real estate and retail, these websites are filled with details. None of these sites report less than a thousand clicks per day.

REALTY CHECK

Just a stone's throw away from Koramangala, CommonFloor.com was started by Vikas Malpani, Sumit Jain and Lalit Mangal seeing the prospect of real estate in Koramangala. "We faced two distinctive set of problems when we moved into an apartment — one was searching for property to buy or rent; and the second was to bring residents of a community together for any common issue or even manage apartment activities together," said Lalit Mangal.

He added, "Our problems got us thinking of a solution that could bring owners, buyers and association committee members together. After much thought, Common-Floor was launched in 2007. Today, the portal is committed to become a one-stop destination for home seekers, residents, association members and service providers," said Mangal.

With an initial budget of less than about Rs 10 lakh the business drew attention from Venture Capitalists and was funded by Accel Partners in 2009. The company also received a Series B-funding to expand business operations in 2012 by their existing investor Accel Partners and Tiger Global.

"We also offer apartment communities a free of cost online apartment management software using which apartment owners, builders, developers and residents can come together for smooth functioning and management of an apartment community. Today, more than 50,000 communities from over 50 lakh homes across the country are using our solution," said Mangal.

The website also offers multiple vendor services of apartments for the residents.

Also, relevant news and articles about real estate and related to making better homes, including interior decoration, plumbing, social gathering venues and others are provided to the users free of cost. "Our revenues are growing by 300 per cent year on year. We plan to reach revenues of $25 million by 2015. In terms of listings we have the largest database of project compared to any other portal in India," said Mangal.

CommonFloor.com receives more than 1 lakh unique visitors every day and Koramangala being very popular receives close to 1,500 to 1,800 enquiries per month. Mangal said, "We are committed to becoming the destination portal for everything related to homes. We are planning to take CommonFloor to every city and home in India."

CITY SPECIAL

12-year-old Koramangala.com has played the right cards to make it to the top listings when it comes to advertisers for local sites.

Everything started with a simple idea for its founders Balbir Singh Sethi and his wife Amrit Sethi. "The Internet was on our minds. I had heard and read so much on it already. I had spent considerable time surfing and checking out many websites and portals. I wondered if there was something for me in this area. And then suddenly the idea struck — why not a website on Koramangala?" said Balbir.

Sethis said, "Initially, we presented Koramangala as a brand. Our personalised service has been the mainstay and all our customers (mostly from the US and other countries) have appreciated our excellent services."

"We did not go overboard with claims of all that we could do and kept our services within sensible limits. There is a very strong customer loyalty that Koramangala.com has developed over the years by maintaining its personalised service and a proactive approach to meet the needs of our customers. Today, we no longer run our services; however, 'Koramangala. com' is a known brand and my other pages keep the traffic abuzz," Amrit added.With initial investments close to a lakh and monthly maintenances of about Rs 25,000, Koramangala.com earns its revenue from advertisers. The site had started an e-Commerce section that did pretty well during its initial days, local traffic and high man power costs lead to the closing of the section.

The site is known for having end to end solutions for localites. "Interactivity is essential for start-ups like us. We weren't exactly a 'jackpot portal' grabbing eyeballs. But, we slowly carved our niche. We have Korasoft, Kora Leisure, Kora Plaza, Kora Shoppe and Kora Buzz which capture the activities Koramangala does," said Sethi. A section in the site which is called business links provides contact details of all possible stores and service providers in the area.